boot door bounces

My 2011 doesn't have that problem. Biggest question to you is: do you have any rattles/squeaks from that area? Also, does rolling a window down (to vent) make it so that the boot door closes easily?

 

Mine does not have any problem at all. In fact, I let go about 1/2 way down and it does the rest.

Couple of things come to mind... does the rear mat hang out near the catch area (gets in the way)? Could also be that that hatch is not aligned properly and is not true.

 

mayhaps your boots are too tall and the door is hitting them before the catch catches?

 

Never had the problem with my Prius, but I had it many years ago with a number of cars. Back then it seemed to me it was a problem with the latch, particularly going back to the "closed" position before actually closing, so the latch part which is supposed to hook under the bar at the bottom just bounced off it. See if you can tell if that's what's going on.
spiderman's points also seem possible to me--check them out too.
Also ClintB's air pressure idea.

 

Ha. Had a Honda Civic station wagon once that had this problem: Every time one would try to close the driver's side door it would bounce back out before it would latch. Slammed the door shut harder and harder over time until, at last - the side window broke to smithereens.

The glass replacement guy was kind enough to point out that the rubber snubber on the body whose purpose was to absorb the shock of the door closing was missing. He further stated that side window breakage was common when the snubber was damaged or misaligned. Not because the lack of a snubber was causing a big shock: It was people slamming the door shut, hard, because the door wouldn't latch properly. Essentially, the door would bounce back out before the latch had a chance to close.

So: Look very carefully at all the bits of semi-hard rubber around the boot door. Make sure they're screwed down properly and there's nothing missing.

KBeck.

 

the only thing i can think of is that something is in the way... or something is loose. if plastic "landing" on the bottom of the door frame is popped up or loose for any reason, it will give you problems.

the door catches and locks are all double systems (two click lock).. it's quite impossible to react faster than it clicks... i've put some abuse on my car and have never had such problems like your unless something was in the way or misaligned like kbeck said.

check the latch and the catch of the door to make sure both are tight. i think the genIII is the same as the genII where you can pull the plastic/rubber away from the hatch catch (bottom part, not door) and get access to replace or repair it. check it... you should be able to use your finger and manually rotate the lock into both locking positions.. to get it to release, squeeze the hatch handle... i manually lock ropes and such when i do tie-downs with the hatch open. it's really easy to open that way. (basically a 30" or so rope with a loop on one end and knots every few inches... loop through the latch then itself... pull down latch as much as possible.. click rope into catch. knots are like belt holes)

pertaining to inside pressure. there are pressure flaps in the rear of the car that should keep that from happening... i know it still does (just about any decent car i've seen)... but usually it's worked around enough so doors close and your eardrums don't blow when you close a door.

how do you close your boot? inside handle and swing it? license plate? bottom of door? wing?...